Primal Morning

Foggy Trees

It was an amazing foggy morning in the high country. When I first saw the wet pavement I considered just going back to bed but I know that it is this kind of day that often turns out to be the most incredible of all! The morning started slowly with no wildlife showing themselves through the fog and the mist, only the trees were there to brave the weather. I finished my hike soaking wet from the mist in the air and the wet grass, but my Ruggard rain cover kept the camera dry 🙂

I then decided upon a trip over to mine country in hopes of good shots of the head frames in the fog. The trees looked pretty cool there too and I got a couple of nice captures of the head frames, and then I spotted a lone doe standing on the mine tailings, probably feeding on some tall mountain grass that had grown through the ruins. I had to wait a while for her to look up, but the wait was worth it. I love this picture!

Coyote with Carcass

It was then I spotted motion in the distance… a closer look through the long lens revealed a coyote with a deer carcass. I assume he found the little deer in the ditch, the victim of a car collision I assume. The big coyote was struggling to get his meal away from the road and back into the woods where he could eat in peace. Eventually he was able to drag it across the open field and settle in at the base of a hill in the tall weeds. He also had a shy friend that was considering joining in, but in the end the smaller animal decided to wait in the distance for a more opportune moment.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the images (at the end of the article)!

Also don’t forget to check out my books and calendars on Lulu Press and Amazon including my latest, “Wildlife Photography in the Colorado Rockies” and this year’s wildlife calendar “Colorado Wildlife 2023“!

As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of cool household and gift items are also available with any image you like including coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets and pillows, battery chargers, phone cases, stationary and much much more! Just click on any image you like and all the choices, sizes and prices will appear! For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal! Also, if you would like to see a more complete record of today’s images please follow my Instagram account!

Many of my adventures have also been captured on beautiful HD video on my Youtube Channel! If you enjoy my content please subscribe to my channel, subscribers have a big impact on channel rankings!

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Snowshoeing the Back Country

Storm Clouds on the Sangre

It was only seven degrees Fahrenheit at first light this morning and like so many days lately, I resolved to just stay inside and drink my morning coffee… But also like every day, I looked down the valley at the Sangre de Cristo Range to see what kind of show might be playing out in the mountains. It looked amazing today so I packed up and headed out to get a front row seat.

I was glad to see that I was the first one at the trailhead, and maybe the only one… The snow is so deep now that the fair weather hikers have stopped coming, but with snowshoes the hike is easy. There has been so much melting and freezing lately that there is a hard crust on the surface and with snowshoes you can just walk right over the top of it 🙂

Storm Clouds on the Sangre

The view at the summit was amazing so I decided to try for a pano. However the clouds were so thick today that I could only get a three image panorama, not such a bad thing though. With less images I could zoom in further and give the view of the rugged mountains that much more detail!

On the way back down I enjoyed the rippling and glittering of the the fresh snow and tried for a closeup. Don’t know if I actually got what I had in mind but I still like the image 🙂

Storm Clouds on the Sangre

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Storm Clouds on the Sangre

Gathering Storm and A Pano

I checked my weather app while drinking my morning coffee and it said snow was on the way. In the pre-dawn darkness I couldn’t tell if anything of interest was going on down the valley but it didn’t matter, I was going hiking anyway. I fired up the truck just as the sun was clearing the ridge to the east and a short time later I saw the massive fog bank completely filling the Arkansas Valley. A few of the taller peaks in the valley protruded above the sea of white, creating an enticing scene that I expected to be photographing at the overlook.

But it was still too dark when I arrived at the overlook. I’ve been down that road before, the camera is completely confused by the fog before the sun turns it into it’s customary bright white color. I shoot raw but even with that tremendous amount of latitude the fog always seems to come out with an ugly greenish tint. So I decided to keep going on to the trailhead. I figured by the time I made it to the top of the ridge the sun would be shining a bit and the fog would be easier to photograph.

Gathering Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

My timing was perfect too, by the time I arrived the light was starting to color the western sky and the Sangre de Cristo range to the west was beautifully lit. I snapped a few images of parts of the mountains before ultimately deciding uon a panorama. After a couple of meter readings I settled on manual mode with a 320th of a second, ISO 160 and f/8 for an aperture. Of course I fiddled with the settings a bit as I examined the rear LCD, but that was the starting point.

I was also hoping for some pictures of the mines but by then the interesting light was gone and the sky and fog were just an uninteresting white. But it’s Ok, I’m really happy with the pano!

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Gathering Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

This post is not sponsored and all equipment used in it’s creation was purchased by me on my own volition.

The Gathering Storm

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Gathering Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

I got out early this morning with the hope of finding some wildlife to photograph on my mountainside. There was a strange and unwelcome warm breeze at the trailhead, odd for this time of year for sure. We have been in the throes of a drought for quite a while now and I have not been having any luck finding animals. I don’t know if they are just scattered all over the mountains or if they have had to migrate to the big reservoirs like Scagway and Eleven Mile to get water. There is some small hope for a significant snowfall later this week but from the blue sky this morning you wouldn’t be able to tell.

Gathering Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

I was going to walk my usual mile and a half circle but decided to climb the next ridge to see if there might be some wildlife on the other side of the trees. Unfortunately there was nothing, not even the chirp of a winter bird to attract my interest. However by the time I arrived at the next summit I could already feel a change in the weather. A high thin layer of clouds had moved in and the breeze was starting to get a more wintry bite to it. The sun was shining underneath the cloud cover, casting an beautiful glow in the Sangre de Cristo Range to the south. There continues to be a mist that has been taking the sharpness out of the scene but I thought I’d try a couple of captures anyway.

These images aren’t anything to jump up and down about, but I hope you enjoy them just the same. Hopefully in a day or two there will be a new layer of fresh snow and perhaps the animals will begin to gather together for their winter pattern so that I can finally get some pictures!

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This post is not sponsored and all equipment used in it’s creation was purchased by me on my own volition.

Layers Upon Layers

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layers of Fog on the Sangre

Another awesome weather day in the high country. I was totally not expecting this… it appeared that I was just in for a cloudy dreary early winter morning in the mountains, not that a cloudy day in the mountains isn’t a thing to look forward to! But as I rounded the first turn on the way to my trailhead I quickly became aware that the day was going to be much more than I thought! Some of the fog from yesterday lingered in the valleys between the layers of mountains building up the the magnificent Sangre de Cristo Range in the distance, a perfect recipe for awesome landscape pictures!

I caught myself driving a bit faster along the winding road to the overlook where I knew I would stop for the photo session. Finally I arrived at my destination and the awesome layered effect was still in effect. I set my camera for landscape images in low light and took a couple of test shots. The exposures looked good so I continued until I was satisfied that the scene was captured. Then I continued on to the second overlook at a higher elevation a bit further to the south and repeated the process.

layers of Fog on the Sangre

Finally I was ready for my hike to the top of the ridge where I captured yet another angle of the beautiful mountains. I was hoping to see a few deer today, but they were nowhere to be found. Oh well… there is much to be said for a quiet hike in the high country of the Pike National Forest! A red-tail hawk soared high above me, well out of camera range, but a hawk is always a good omen 🙂

The biggest news of the day is that my favorite place for coffee, the Gold Camp Bakery is once again open following a closure of several weeks for upgrades and remodeling. Nothing like an order of biscuits and gravy to reward one’s self for a good day of photography 🙂

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layers of Fog on the Sangre

This post is not sponsored and all equipment used in it’s creation was purchased by me on my own volition.

The Gathering Storm

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Fog in the Valley

One sure sign of approaching weather is a massive fog bank filling the Arkansas River Valley at the base of the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range of Colorado. I never miss a chance to photograph this beautiful weather phenomenon and this day was no different. Each morning over coffee I peer out my front window down the valley towards the Sangre range to see what kind of day is going to develop. I knew from the forecast that weather was coming in and from my limited view I could see that I had better grab my camera and hit the road!

Fog in the Valley

This particular morning was so fantastic that I had to make two passes just to take it all in. There was a great view of the action from my usual vista point along Highway 67 but I knew that I was also going to have to drive on up to Victor where at the mine entrance there would be a view from higher up. Some days I call it good at that point and go on in to the Gold Camp Bakery for coffee, but on this day another pass was going to be necessary in order to catch the panorama available from the overlook on the Cripple Creek side. Eventually I was confident that I had adequately captured the magnificent scene and that breakfast was well deserved!

The impending snowstorm never really developed though, a few flakes lazily drifting out of the alpine air was all we got for this round but I’m sure that it won’t be long and we will be experiencing a lot more winter white!

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Fog in the Valley

This post is not sponsored and all equipment used in it’s creation was purchased by me on my own volition.

Winter Has Arrived

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Storm on Pikes Peak

After a long sunny autumn a major change is afoot. Cooler temperatures and moisture have enveloped the Pikes Peak Region and even the animals seem to know that it’s time to get ready. The change was first evident on massive 14,150 foot Pikes Peak in the form of blowing mist and fog, a phenomenon I have enjoyed photographing since I moved to the southern mountains of Colorado. Now heavy clouds have moved in and snow is on the way later today. Hopefully that will make for a beautiful morning filled with wildlife out gathering food after the foul weather.

Mule Deer Bucks in the Rockies

As I arrived at the trailhead I spotted the Three Amigos trotting over the ridge, well out of camera range but still a welcome sight. The does at the summit weren’t in the rush that the boys were and remained for a few pictures. The fourth buck who sometimes joins the Three Amigos was lingering in the forest as I approached the summit, standing in perfect light. I stretched out the legs of my monopod and attached the camera… By then he had spotted me and took a few steps toward me which I welcomed until he stopped in the shade to stare at me. Now I was faced with a very bright background and a dark subject. I waited a few minutes for him to move back into the sun but was eventually compelled to settle for a silhouette. I left my exposure with the settings for a sunny image and shot the silhouette.

Mule Deer Bucks in the Rockies

After a few captures I adjusted my exposure compensation to +2/3 of a stop to see if I could brighten up his face a bit and shot a few more. The does were much more cooperative, content in the warm sunshine feeding on the nutritious foliage being served to them by one of the local bush species.

It wasn’t a huge day but I got a great workout in the mountains, got to check on my four footed friends and even got a few nice images in the process. But I am ready for the snow to spread down from the peak into the valleys later and hope for a much bigger day of photography tomorrow!

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This post is not sponsored and all equipment used in it’s creation was purchased by me on my own volition.

Making the Best of Bad Weather

Great Blue Heron at River Boy it’s been tough to catch a break lately, seems like every time I get a chance to go out and shoot it is either raining or snowing! That doesn’t work very well for bird photography which requires a lot of high quality light, but sometimes it can work out well for landscape work. The Sangre de Cristo Range usually is a good candidate for bad weather photography, but as beautiful as they are… you can’t get good pictures in the rain of a subject that is sixty miles away :( Also, as in the case of dense fog… you can’t see them at all!

One of my days was just cloudy with a little haze so I was able to go to Eleven Mile Canyon where the canyon is so narrow, if you do find some wildlife it is a sure bet that the critters

Osprey at Eleven Mile

will be fairly close to you if they don’t scamper away! In fact the great blue heron like cold cloudy weather so I was able to grab a couple of my best captures ever of those majestic birds. The less than bright light also works well for the white headed osprey. If you don’t get the exposure just right you will lose all detail in the most important part of the image. In direct sunlight negative two or more stops of exposure compensation is required which wreaks havoc on your background, so a little bit of diffusion from the cloud cover can be quite helpful!

In the case of dense fog, some great images of the pine trees and aspen yet to acquire leaves can be had. The historic ghost mines of the Cripple Creek / Victor mining district also make for good subjects on a foggy day. Now that the area has been modernized and and tourist defended, there are a ton of fences and signs that look terrible in a picture. A bit of dense fog hides a multitude of hideous photographic blemishes

Dense fog in the Pike National Forest of Colorado

A video hike through the fog is also an attractive possibility, like this trek I filmed on the way to the top of Grouse Mountain. A bit of fog added some mystery and entirely new look to my usual mundane hike that I mostly just do for exercise and the possibility of spotting some deer or cute little birds, now that the warm weather is here! Speaking of cute birds… just yesterday I was able to add a new life sighting of a green-tailed towhee that I photographed at the end of my hike when the sun was finally starting to break through!

And then there is always storm chasing, something I might try this afternoon with some tremendous thunderstorms promised starting at about 3:00 p.m.

Fog on the Mountain

Please don’t forget to visit my YouTube channel to watch videos of many of my adventures in the mountains, and if you wouldn’t mind I could use the thumbs up and a subscribe if you enjoy the content and want to help my channel!

As always, the best of these images and hundreds more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Tons of cool household and gift items are also available with any image you like including coffee mugs, t-shirts, blankets and pillows, battery chargers, phone cases, stationary and much much more! Just click on any image you like and all the choices, sizes and prices will appear! For my viewers interested in images for commercial use, please visit my image licensing portal! I should mention at this time that this blog post is not sponsored by Canon or any other firm. All equipment used in the making of the blog and video have been purchased by me on my own volition.

Cute little Green-tailed Towhee in the grass

Suddenly Spring

Storm Clouds on the Sangre de Cristo Range

Last week in the high country of Colorado we were contending with blizzard conditions and temperatures that had plummeted well below the zero degree mark. A couple of days ago several inches of snow fell in the night on top of last week’s melting snow, turning the entire region into a skating rink, I saw the aftermath including cars buried in the deep snow down the embankments on either side of Highway 67 when I had to drive into town for supplies. However, the view of the mountains as the storm clouds were receding was simply spectacular!

Storm Clouds on the Sangre de Cristo Range

I love it when the storm clouds, wind and blowing snow pour over the high peaks of the Sangre de Cristo Range to the southwest making my job as a photographer so easy! Braving the wind and the cold aren’t so pleasant but having the chance to photograph such splendor sometimes feels like such an incredible honor.

Today however is an entirely different story, the sun is shining, snow and ice are melting and temperatures will soar into the 40’s for the next few days. Such as it is in Colorado, just when it starts to seem like winter is never going to end, suddenly and without warning spring arrives and for a time it is like winter never was. Of course until about the middle of June we have to keep in mind that winter can rudely reappear at any time with a vengeance!

As always these images and more are available for purchase as wall art on my website and don’t forget to visit my latest YouTube video to see the elk herd in the deep snows of the high country! Please subscribe to my channel if you like what you see, I still need quite a few subscribers in order to get my custom #swkrullimaging URL that is so important when the time comes to set up my commercial options!

Storm Clouds on the Sangre de Cristo Range

Gathering Storm

Approaching Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

As I looked out the window down the valley this morning it quickly became apparent that a change in the weather is afoot. The first evidence of an approaching storm often shows itself on the high peaks of the majestic Sangre de Cristo Mountain range to the southwest.

So of course I grabbed my camera and headed for higher ground in hopes of capturing the show before the mountains were completely obscured. My efforts paid off as I caught the action at it’s most dramatic point 🙂 The days ahead will tell whether the storm works it’s way north or if the massive block fault range stops it in it’s tracks.

As always these pictures and more are available for purchase on my website as wall art on glossy metal or acrylic sheets ready for hanging, stretched canvas and traditional matting and framing. Cool gift items including coffee mugs, t-shirts, phone cases and much much more are also available!

Approaching Storm on the Sangre de Cristo

Photographer S. W. Krull Imaging

Colorado photographer and author specializing in sports, nature and wildife photography and writing

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